1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to improvements for outer-rotor electric motor systems, particularly where the outer rotor is used to directly drive a belt, such as in treadmills and conveyors.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Outer rotor motors are gaining popularity in many different commercial and residential applications since a direct-drive motor can simplify the overall system structure, increase system reliability and reduce system cost. Traditional treadmills and conveyors have a roller that is driven by conventional AC or DC electric motor through belts and pulleys. In addition, the AC or DC motor normally has a flywheel attached to achieve a smooth speed performance, such as in treadmill applications.
A typical outer roller motor has a rotating roller supported by end caps and bearings, and a stator and shaft. Permanent magnets are mounted cylindrically inside the roller and form magnetic poles. The stator is firmly mounted on the shaft. The shaft is fixed at both ends to its supporting frames. When the stator windings are energized, they interact with the magnetic field from the magnets and the torque is produced to turn the outer rotor of the motor.
Outer rotor motors can be used to directly drive a belt where the belt is led directly over the roller surface of an outer-rotor motor. However, challenges remain, especially in thermal cooling for motor surface temperature, motor smoothness at low speed, and motor response to load such as a step-fall on a treadmill belt. The major heat sources are the copper losses and magnetic core losses generated from the stator winding and lamination core. Motor torque ripple such as cogging torque will affect motor smoothness. The cogging torque is due to the interaction between the rotor magnets and the slots of the stator. This represents undesired motor torque output. The motor inertia and the performance of the motor controller contribute to how fast the motor reacts to load disturbances and variations such as step falls in treadmill applications and to the smoothness of the motor.
Improvement in treadmill applications is desired in each of these three areas. For an outer rotor motor, the stator is inside the rotor housing so heat removal is difficult. One approach is to attach fan type devices to the end caps as disclosed in US patent application publication nos. 2002/0158543 and US 2003/0094867. However, this approach may not be entirely effective to remove heat from inside the motor housing. For example, end caps having ventilation holes may not be effective at removing the heat when the motor is running at lower speed, and by having ventilation holes at both end caps, foreign objects may be sucked in and cause hazards. The motor described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,960 relies on the supporting structure for conductive heat dissipation which strategy may become less effective as the motor shaft becomes longer in applications such as treadmills. Also, in certain cases there may not be enough supporting structure available for conductive heat dissipation. In addition, the contact area of the shaft with the supporting frame may be limited, further reducing the effects of conductive heat transfer. As a result, at full load and lower speed, both methods cited above may have difficulties keeping the rotor surface temperature low. Higher rotor surface temperatures can have adverse effects on the life of the belt, and can make an outer rotor motor unsuitable for certain applications.